{"product_id":"9780733343292","title":"Sister Viv: The inspiring gripping WWII story of survival and heroism of a courageous young army nurse from the bestselling award-winning author, shortlisted for the ABIA Biography of the Year 2025","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2025, this is the\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong style=\"font-size: 1em; letter-spacing: 0em;\"\u003e inspiring story of the nursing hero who survived a wartime massacre and dedicated her life to saving others - from the critically acclaimed, bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eFlinders\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Remarkable Mrs Reibey\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eHudson Fysh\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eBanjo\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the ABIA Biography of the Year 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAnzac Memorial Trustees Military History Prize 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBangka Island, 1942:\u003c\/em\u003e Australian Army nurse Vivian Bullwinkel was just twenty-six when Japanese soldiers marched her and her fellow nurses into the shallow waters of a remote beach to be executed. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMiraculously, Vivian would be the lone survivor - and she committed the rest of her long life to an exceptional peacetime career which she lived in tribute to her lost friends. The Lieutenant-Colonel would also be the first woman to be honoured with a statue at the Australian War Memorial for her extraordinary bravery and service - a country girl who became one of the highest ranking women in the Australian army, and who spent her life caring for others. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGrowing up in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Vivian started work at a local hospital and joined the Australian Army Nursing Service in World War II. When the Japanese attacked Singapore in 1942, she and sixty-four other nurses were ordered to evacuate, but soon their ship was bombed by enemy aircraft. Some of the women drowned, but Viv made it to Radji Beach on Bangka Island, off Sumatra, with twenty-one of her nursing colleagues. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere Japanese soldiers forced the women to wade back into the sea, and as Vivian felt a bullet slam into her back, she fell face down into the water then waited to die as the soldiers bayonetted survivors. Somehow Vivian lived.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the next three and a half years Viv was a prisoner of war in a series of brutal Japanese camps where she helped other inmates survive the horror. When peace was restored, she went on to become a giant of Australian nursing - and was a key driver of Operation Babylift, the mass rescue of young orphans during the Vietnam War. For her extraordinary efforts, Vivian was awarded numerous honours, but she never forgot her fallen colleagues, whose lives she paid tribute to with her service to nursing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the bestselling, critically acclaimed author of \u003cem\u003eFlinders\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Remarkable Mrs Reibey\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBanks\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eHudson Fysh\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSister Viv\u003c\/em\u003e tells the astonishing story of the courage, sacrifice, service, and love of an Australian nursing hero who survived against the odds and dedicated her life to the care of others.  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Grantlee Kieza","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46905388531861,"sku":"9780733343292","price":36.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0484\/3175\/9509\/files\/9780733343292.jpg?v=1776889764","url":"https:\/\/harpercollins.com.au\/products\/9780733343292","provider":"HarperCollins AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}